tommygirl | An Unexpected Christmas (PG)

This is the second story I wrote for

yuletide. I was going through the lists of requests and stumbled upon one for The Class by

lauriegilbert and my brain just started with Kat tormenting Ethan about Kyle. It's not a pairing I ever really considered, but it was fun to try. And I figure there needs to be more The Class fic out there. Again, with the database issues, I didn't receive all the emails, but thank you to everyone who commented! I'm glad the fic was enjoyed.

Title: An Unexpected Christmas
Author: Tommygirl/

storydivagirl
Rating: PG
Written For:

lauriegilbert for

yuletide
Summary: Thanks to Kat's thoughts on the topics, Ethan and Kyle have to deal with their feelings.

An Unexpected Christmas

There were days when Ethan couldn't help but question his decision months ago to contact his grade school classmates. He was grateful for the new friendships, but it had turned his world upside down, and that was mostly thanks to Kat Warbler. She definitely made his life interesting, but she also had an uncanny knack for driving him crazy. Why he thought the holidays would be any different, he didn't know, but when he met her on Christmas Eve to exchange gifts, she was in rare form.

He should've known he was in trouble when he saw her "I know something about you" expression. She eyed him over as she gulped down her coffee and said, "He likes you."

"Who likes me?"

"Kyle."

"Kat..."

"I'm serious, Ethan."

"You're being ridiculous."

"I see the way he looks at you."

"He doesn't look at me."

"And you're spending Christmas together."

"Because we're both alone and holidays suck when you're alone."

"Uh-huh."

"We're going to watch football and then see a movie."

Kat smirked and repeated, "Uh-huh."

Ethan rolled his eyes. One of Kat's favorite past times was saying ludicrous things just to make people uncomfortable. He wasn't going to fall for it. He swirled the contents of his cup - like the cool and collected guy he was - and said, "We're friends. Of course he likes me. Most of us actually like the people we hang out with."

"Yeah, but most of us don't pass up romantic getaways to Rome with hot boyfriends to hang out with our goofy pediatrician friends."

"I'm not goofy."

"That's what you choose to focus on in that sentence?"

"Because I'm not goofy."

"Whatever, dude. I'm just saying. Be prepared for Kyle to put the moves on you tomorrow."

"Stop trying to ruin my day because you have to spend the holiday with your parents."

"Don't forget Richie, Mr. Likes to Make Girls Swoon by Hitting Them with Cars. It's gonna be awesome," she said with a groan.

"Your delivery needs work if you want anyone to truly appreciate the sarcasm in that sentence."

Kat shrugged. "I know. It's a work in progress." Kat leaned closer and said, "Kyle isn't too bad looking."

"Shut up."

"And you both work with kids. You could cuddle and tell disgustingly sweet stories about children barfing on you."

"Your idea of disgustingly sweet is a tad bit disturbing."

"You're a romantic, Ethan. He could be your soulmate," Kat replied.

Ethan glared at her and said, "Would you please let this go?"

"Fine."

"Thank you."

"But when he shows up with wine and wants to see a romantic comedy, be prepared, because he likes you."

"I hate you right now."

"Maybe you could just kiss him? That would tell you how he feels."

"I'm not going to kiss him. Drop it."

"Fine."

Ethan slid his gift across the table and said, "Merry freaking Christmas. You so don't deserve the extra ribbons and bows."

Kat arched her eyebrow and said, "And you're trying to convince me you're straight?"

**

All it took to throw Ethan's world into chaos were those three simple words out of Kat's mouth - he likes you. Why couldn't Kat keep her mouth shut? Ethan had spent the night and morning over thinking every single moment in his friendship with Kyle. And for nothing, he knew logically. Kyle had a boyfriend and Ethan wasn't gay.

That didn't make the strange feeling in his gut any easier to explain away. And it didn't erase the strange dreams he had about him and Kyle throughout the night either.

He was going to kill Kat.

Ethan nearly jumped when the doorbell rang. He took a deep breath, told himself to get a grip, and plastered a smile onto his face. It wasn't Kyle's fault that Kat was playing with his mind. Kyle was his friend, one of his best friends, and Ethan didn't want to scare him away over something that didn't make any sense.

When Ethan answered the door, Kyle grinned and held up a bottle of wine. He said, "Gift from me to you." Ethan tried to respond, but could only grunt and motion for Kyle to enter. Kyle didn't seem to notice though as he shrugged out of his jacket and put the bottle down on the coffee table. He added, "It's freezing outside and the roads are getting bad. We might want to reconsider the movie."

"Oh..."

"We can just hang out here and watch the game, maybe a few movies."

Ethan nodded and shut the door. When he sat down at the other end of the sofa, leaving a huge gap between them, Kyle asked, "Are you okay?"

"Sure. It's Christmas. Why wouldn't I be okay?"

"You're acting strange," Kyle replied. He stared at Ethan appraisingly, which made Ethan's mind wander to what that look would be like in other ways. And that was wrong. He didn't think of Kyle like that - they were friends - and maybe if he kept repeating it to himself, it would sink in.

Ethan said, "I'm just tired."

"A glass of wine might help. Want me to get the glasses?" Kyle replied, already up and making his way to the kitchen before Ethan could answer.

Ethan cleared his throat again. He wanted to direct the conversation as far away from Kat's statement, but found himself saying, "I had coffee with Kat yesterday."

"She took a break from ruining Christmas for the kids at the mall to meet you?"

Ethan nodded and said, "She decided to work her machinations on me instead. Too bad it didn't work."

Kyle smiled and said, "Did you still believe in Santa, Ethan?"

"No, not that..." Ethan stood up and walked toward his kitchen. He leaned against the bar and said, "Kat was trying to convince me that you liked me."

"I do like you. We're friends."

"I know. But I mean really liked me. As in more than buddies hanging out," Ethan replied. He forced a chuckle and said, "That girl has no understanding--"

"She's not completely wrong, Ethan," Kyle interrupted, his cheeks blushing as he focused his gaze on the floor.

Ethan stared at Kyle. His expression seemed sincere, but dealing with Kat had made him more than a little suspicious. He glanced around his apartment, expecting her or the crew of Candid Camera to jump out, but nothing happened. It was him and Kyle. Alone. With this thing filling the air that probably should've freaked him out, but didn't really.

"Okay..." Ethan managed.

Kyle stepped out of the kitchen and leaned against the bar next to Ethan. They stood shoulder-to-shoulder in silence for a moment and Kyle said, "I didn't mean to spring that on you, but if someone as socially inept as Kat Warbler could see it, I figured I should be honest with you."

"Yeah. I'm not sure what to say."

"Me either. I didn't expect this," Kyle replied. He turned to face Ethan and said, "I know people say that all the time in these situations, but I really didn't expect this. You're not my normal type."

"Mine either."

"What?"

"What?" Ethan repeated, mostly because he had no idea what he was saying.

Kyle shrugged and said, "This is awkward."

"A little bit."

"I'm sorry."

"No, it's not..." Ethan covered his face with his hands and groaned. Kat was so very dead. He took a deep breath and said, "I think you're misunderstanding...I'm actually...god, this is so embarrassing."

"It's nothing. I can leave and we can forget this ever happened."

Rather than saying anything else completely wrong, Ethan simply gripped onto Kyle's hand. Before his brain stopped him, he closed his eyes, leaned in, and pressed his lips against Kyle's. It was weird and not the best kiss he ever had, but then it became something more when Kyle responded to him and pulled him closer.

When they were both out of breath, Ethan pulled away and let go of the grip he had on Kyle's shirt. He smiled and said, "Okay, not how I expected this to go."

"Me either."

"I'm not sure what I'm doing. It was just since Kat opened her big mouth, I've been thinking about it and then I started thinking about you and kissing you, and I just..."

Kyle shut him up with another kiss, which was more than okay by Ethan. When it was done, Ethan rolled his eyes and said, "It really pisses me off that Kat was right. I'm never going to hear the end of it."

Kyle laughed and patted Ethan on the back. He said, "Is that really so bad?"

Ethan grinned at Ethan and said, "I guess not. Merry Christmas, Kyle."

Kyle pulled Ethan back against him and said, "Merry Christmas, Ethan."

{Fin}